“What do you do?”
“I quit my job at Google a few months ago to work on effective altruism. I’m studying sn-risks.”
“I can’t remember, which ones are sn-risks?”
“Steppe nomads. Horse archers. The Eurasian hordes.”
“I didn’t think they were still a problem.”
“Oh yeah. You look at history, and once every two hundred, three hundred years they get their act together, form a big confederation, and invade either China, the West, or both. It’s like clockwork. 400 AD, you get the Huns. 700, the Magyars. 1000, the first Turks start moving west. 1200, Genghis Khan, killed 10% of the world population. 1400, Tamerlane, killed another 5%. 1650, the Ming-Qing transition in China, also killed 5%. We’re more than 50 years overdue at this point.”
“But I would think with modern technology - ”
“Exactly! With modern technology, the next time could be so much worse! Usually the steppe nomads are limited to a small fringe around the steppe where they can still graze their horses. But with modern logistics, you can get horse food basically anywhere. There’s no limit to how far the next steppe confederation could get. That’s why I think this is a true existential risk, not just another 5 - 10% of the world’s population like usual.”
“I was going to say that with modern technology, it just doesn’t seem like steppe nomads should be such a problem any more.”
“That’s what the Ming Dynasty thought in 1650. You know, they had guns, they had cannons, they figured that horse archers wouldn’t be able to take them on anymore. Turned out they were wrong. The nomads got them too.”
“Are there even any steppe nomads left?”
“Definitely! Lots of people in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, stick to their traditional ways of life. All they need is a charismatic leader to unite them.”
“And the effective altruists gave you a grant to work on this?”
“Not Open Philanthropy or Future Fund or any of those people, but I was able to get independent funding.”
“From who?” you ask, as if you don’t already know the answer.
“Same place every overly confident young person gets money! Peter Thiel!”
1,000
1.00@Joshua Across the pond we’re all hoping you can elect a president willing to ask the question “What are you doing, steppe nomad?”
